Samuel r



* UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

SAMUEL R. HAOKMAN AND HENRY HAOKMAN, OF PEQUEA, PENNSYLVANIA; SAID HENRY HAOKMAN ASSIGNOR TO SAID SAMUEL R. HACKMAN.

KNIFE AND FORK SCOURER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 499,884, dated June 20, 1893.

Application filed February 20. 1892; Serial No. 422,190. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that we, SAMUEL R. HAOKMAN and HENRY HACKMAN, citizens of the United States, residing in Pequea township, county of Lancaster, and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain Improvements in Knife and Fork Scourers, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in that class of devices employed for cleaning or scouring knives, forks, spoons and the like; and the object of our iinprovementis to produce a neat and convenient scourer in which the abrading substance is automatically fed to the polishing pads by the movement of the article being cleaned, as hereinafter fully described, and then specifically pointed out ill the claims. v

In the accompanying drawings, which form part of. this specification, Figure l is a top perspectiveview of the case or box, the lid being removed. Fig. 2 is a bottom perspective view of the lid. Fig. 3 is a front end view .of the scourer, and Fig. 4 a longitudinal vertical section of the same.

Similar letters indicate like parts throughout the several views.

Referring to the details of the drawings, A indicates the case, having horizontal wedge shaped lugs, g, formed on or secured to both sides thereof near the top, the small ends of the lugs being pointed toward the rear end of the box, as shown in Fig. 1. Near the front there are vertical grooves F formed in the in-" ner faces of the side walls of the box, the lower parts of which are engaged by a transverse stationary block a, above which there is a similar movable block a. The adjoining faces of these blocks a and a have grooves formed longitudinally therein, in which are inserted polishing pads consisting of rigid cores 6', about which are wrapped or folded woolen coverings e, or coverings of any other pliable villous material adapted for scouring or cleaning metal surfaces. Back of blocks a a the box is filled with fine sand E or any other suitable granulated or comminuted substance. In the back of the box there is a movable head or partition D, adjusted in position by a set-screw d, passing through a threaded opening in the rear wall of the box. This head D is moved forward in the box as the quantity of sand therein is diminished, so that the top of the sand may always be well above the meeting line of the polishing pads.

B indicates the lid of the box, having elongated hooks b on its longitudinal edges. The openings in'these hooks are similar in shape to the lugs g, with which they are adapted to engage. On the inner face of the lid there is formed a depending partition I), which, when the lid is in place, bears against the inner face of the movable block a and prevents the sand in the box from working over the top of said block, the pressure of which, on the stationary block, is regulated by the screw I-I, passing througha threaded hole in the lid, as shown in Fig. 4. The polishing pads are so closely fitted in the grooves in blocks a a as to be retained in place by the friction between the parts, but can easily be removed to renew the covering e. If preferable the stationary block a may be-cast or formed with the box. As seen in Fig. 3 the adjoining faces of the polishing pads are horizontal straight lines f, excepting at one end where one of the pads has a curved depression f, and the other a corresponding lip.

In cleaning utensils such as knives and forks, they are inserted between the straight portions of the pads, while spoons and similarly shaped articles are inserted through the curved parts. The utensils to be cleaned are inserted between the pads and then moved backward and forward by hand, drawing small portions of the sand between the pads, with which they engage so as to maintain the surfaces of the pads in suitable condition. The sand in the box also assists in a measure to brighten the surfaces of the utensils moved through it, but practically the cleaning is done by the pads. Block a fits close enough in the grooves in the side of the box to require pressure to move iteither up or down, so that when a utensil is too thick to pass be-' tween the pads as they stand the screw 11 is loosened sufficiently and the force exerted on the utensil in pushing it in raises said block, which, when necessary, is again lowered by means of screw H. The sand or other substance placed in the box is of a fineness suitable to be used on the article to be cleaned. After the sand is placed in the box the lid is put on by moving it from the rear to the front until partition 12' bears against block a. By thus attaching the lid the larger ends of the openings in the hooks first engage the smaller ends of lugs g.

In many devices of this character, the construction is with a view to cleaning the knives or other implements by the friction thereon of sand or emery placed in the box, the surfaces of the pads at the mouth of the box being covered bymaterial having asmooth closegrained surface backed by a spring or a yielding core, whereby said pads act as clearers to remove the sand or emery from the implements as they are withdrawn from the box and to retain the cleaning material in the box. In other cleaners, there are special appliances by which one of the smooth covered pads can be manipulated to admit a quantity of thesand or emery between it and a stationary pad. But when the loose sand or emery is alone relied on to do the scouring the work is imperfectly done for lack of pressure and when pressure is brought to bear on a quantity of sand or emery between smooth covered pads the articles are scratched and disfigured by the grains thereof, especially those of the finer grades. We overcome these objections by covering the cores of the pads with some woolen or other villous material and construct the cleaner so that the pads can be set and held at such distance apart as -to allow the cleaning material to be drawn into the villous surface by the movement of the implement being cleaned. This mixture of the cleaning material with the villous surfaces of the pads forms and maintains abrading surfaces which thoroughly clean the implements passed between them without scratching them or in any way m'arring the appearance of their surfaces. Backing the surfaces of the pads with solid cores prevents the admission of too great lugs on its sides with the smaller ends toward v the rear of the box, of a lower stationary block, an upper vertically adjustable block located above the stationary block, a lid having hooks adapted to engage the wedge-shaped lugs, and a depending partition on the bottom of the'lid adapted to bear against the inner vertical face of the adjustable block, sub stantially as and for the purpose specified.

2. The combination, with a box containing a cleaning. substance, of blocks located one above the other in the front end of the box and adapted to have knives and other implements inserted between their contiguous edges, and an adjustable partition located in the rear of the box behind the space occu- 7o pied bysaid cleaning substance, substan tially as and for the purpose specified.

3. Thecombination,withaboxcontaininga clean in g substance,of a lowerstationary block in the front of the box, a vertically adjustable block located above the stationary block,

a lid for the box having a dependent partition adapted to bear against a vertical face of the adjustable block, and an adjustable partition located in the rear of the box behind the space occupied by said cleaning substance, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

S. R; HACKMAN. HENRY HACKMAN. Witnesses:

Gno. A. LANE, -WM. R. GERHART. 

